Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220
Saturday, December 23, 1995 18:05 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The instrument rated private pilot was on an IFR flight from San Marcos, Texas, to Carlsbad, New Mexico. During an ILS RWY 3 approach to the Cavern City Air Terminal at Carlsbad, the pilot executed a missed approach. The pilot reported to ATC that his glide slope failed. While maneuvering in the clouds to reattempt an approach at Carlsbad, the pilot lost control of the airplane and impacted the terrain. A pilot reported the weather at Carlsbad was VFR below 1,100 feet with the tops of the clouds from 7200 to 7500 feet. The pilot was instructed to maintain 7,000 feet. The pilot made three 'mayday' calls prior to stating that, 'five two Juliet totally disoriented.' According to the pilot's log books he had accumulated 44 hours of instrument flight time of which 38.4 hours were logged as actual instrument weather time since July 20, 1993. The pilot's instrument flight instructor reported that whenever the pilot filed an IFR flight plan, he would log the flight as actual instrument weather time. Examination of the airplane and engine did not disclose any pre-mishap discrepancies. Due to the extent of damage, flight control continuity could not be established.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control due to spatial disorientation. Factors were the pilot's lack of total actual instrument weather time and the clouds.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/23/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1805 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | CARLSBAD |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 88220 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1750 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 258 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CNM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3293 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1958 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 24 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1040 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1152J |
| NTSB Number | FTW96FA075 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Aero Commander |
| Aircraft Model | 112 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 112 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 171 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 9 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 16 |
| Airframe Hours | 2581 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GARY D.MITCHELL |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6206 ROSS ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | DEL VALLEY |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78617 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | T98 |
| Departure City | SAN MARCOS |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1534 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | CNM |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |